I wish
by ArraMidnight
Summary: The Kaiba's lives have always been hard. As it is all finally going okay, Seto makes a wish for the life that he believes Mokuba always deserved
1. Chapter 1

**Hey I know that I don't ever update anything anymore so it doesn't make sense that I would be starting something else, but I had this idea so I'm gonna start this and I promise if you happen to read my other stories then I will be updating after this week, since I have a lot of crap going on! Well no more of me :) Hope you enjoy, and as you know anyone who you recognize is not mine and I don't own any right to them same as the rest of you, unless you happen to be the writer, which would be cool, but anyways...**

Click. Stop, stare. It really was getting to late. Seto looked at the corner of his screen, correction its to early. Two am was not an uncommon time for him to find himself still working, but he knew that he was supposed to be at a meeting downtown at six thirty, so a little sleep would most likely be in order. He stretched long arms over his head rolling his neck, which popped gratefully with each bend. Seto had always found that extremely early morning was the best time to get work done, one of the few things that he and other people his age had in common, though unlike most of them he was never doing work at the last minute. He looked over the program he was reworking, the prototype wasn't due out for another month, but he had long since finished anything more pressing and decided to get a head start on it.

Two am. He scanned the dark room, why did he feel like he was forgetting something? A feeling Seto didn't experience very often, he racked his brain for why he felt that way when the items he had stashed away in his closet came to mind. Mokuba's birthday was the next morning. He would have of course remembered when he woken up, but that would have broken tradition. He slide back in his swivel chair, moving through the dark room with ease as he had long since memorized the lay out. The hallways were dimmer then normal with only floor lights so that one would be able to find the stairs and doors. Seto descended to the second floor where the bedrooms lay. Only one room was lite, and he knew from years of walking past that this was his younger brother's room.

Their first week in this house had been Mokuba's birthday. Turning five years old had been a big deal to him before they became Kaiba's. Their stepfather didn't believe in such frivolous things as birthdays, a fact which he made all to clear to his youngest son. Mokuba had never really liked his birthday very much, as it was the anniversary of their mother's death as well, so for someone to find a way to make him dread it even more was so horrible that only Gozabura Kaiba could manage it.

Eighteen year old Seto recalled sneaking as stealthily as possible into his brother's room when he knew their stepfather would believe them both asleep. He pushed the door opened. It was the same room, even some of the same things, and though Mokuba would be thirteen years old the light was still on. He crossed the room, blinking the light which seemed excessively bright in contrast to the dim halls. The younger boy was laying in a ball on the far side of the bed, not uncommon for him though he would have moved to the other side by the time he woke, the child was never able to stay still while he slept. Seto sank onto the down comforter and lay next to his brother.

"Happy birthday kiddo." He kissed the boy's long dark hair and curled into him. Why did their life have to be so hard? His little brother deserved to have a normal life, a normal family...He hugged Mokuba close to him. "If I could get you anything for your birthday, I would give you the life you always deserved." Though that could never happen, I wish, for him it could, Seto though as he slipped slowly into sleep.

He stretched his arms up as he heard the buzz of an alarm sound through his room. But no, that wasn't right Mokuba's alarm clock rang a bell, not like this at all, but hadn't he fallen asleep in his younger brother's room? He felt next to him, eyes still closed, to find nothing but the edge of a bed. That was wrong to, how could he feel both sides of the bed from one spot, surely Mokuba's bed was to big for that, as well as the fact that his younger brother had never woken up before him! Seto shot up quickly as the facts began to settle in, eyes now opened he made a shocking discovery. The small room was immaculately clean, books line the shelves and a computer sat on the desk against the far wall. There were awards and other certificates lining the rest of the room, though other then that the white walls and beige carpet bore only the little character that suburban homes proved. Where in the world am I! He thought, throwing back the plain blanket and stepping off the twin bed. The clock radio alarm still buzzed through the room, though he payed it no heed how did he get here? The obvious explanation was that he had been brought here without his knowledge, which would mean a kidnapping. But most importantly where was Mokuba!

Ignoring the fact that he was wearing blue pajama bottoms (which he had never seen) and nothing else, he darted out of the room. The hallway was just as bland as the room had been, other then some framed pictures it was completely empty.

"Mokuba!" There were a few other doors lining the hall, all closed, what kind of kidnapper was this person to bring them somewhere that he could get out of so easily? Or maybe only he could get out, as the though crossed his mind he scanned the doors again, his baby brother had to be here somewhere! "Mokuba if you can hear me answer me please!"

"What the fuck are yelling about!" Seto turned quickly at the sound of his brother's voice. Mokuba was leaning out of a door not far from his own, black hair tousled with sleep causing it to fall over his almost closed eyes.

"We have to get out of here! And don't curse." He said moving towards his younger brother in case the people who brought them here was listening. Mokuba raised an eyebrow, grey eyes scanned the hallway.

"Seto what time is it?" What kind of question was that? Why wasn't he in any way concerned that he was not in their house? He thought back to the alarm clock, though he had looked at it only briefly he had of course taken in what it said.

"Seven am. Are you alright?" He said noticing the expression that had just crossed his brother's face. Mokuba rolled his eyes, then with a pained look.

"Yeah I'm amazing Seto, I love being woken up for no reason, its Saturday you know that right?"

"Yes of course." What did that have to with any of this! "Mokuba are comprehending the severity of our situation?" This time Mokuba actually laughed, a cynical and bitter laugh.

"Yeah I am, having you as an older brother would make anyone wanna escape, but sadly thats not an option." What! Seto stepped back, though he was insulted by others often he had never heard his little brother say anything like that, it hurt much more then any other he had ever received.

"Boys are you up?" A voice called from the bottom of the stairs. Seto felt a strange sense of sadness, he knew that voice, but had long since blocked out it calling him, the thought had only caused him pain.

"Yeah your genius is freaking out at me!"

"Be nice you two, no fighting!" The voice shot back. Seto walked towards that stairs, away from his little brother's mocking. He descended hesitantly, for some reason he feared what he was about to see. A woman sat in the dining room at the bottom of the stairs. Her long black hair pulled into a loose ponytail which still seemed to fall into her slanted blue eyes. She was obviously fairly young, Seto knew she had been only just sixteen when her oldest child was born. She looked up from the magazine she was flipping through and smiled at him. Seto heart clenched, he had missed that smile for thirteen long years. It dropped as she looked him over.

"Seto whats honey, are you okay?" She stood from the table and walked to the taller boy. There were so many things he wanted to do, to say, but yet he couldn't figure out how to act on them. He shook his head lightly.

"No..no its nothing mom."

**So thats the beginning chapter, tell me if you think it would be worth continuing!**


	2. Chapter 2

**so this story will not be very long, probably only a few more chapters, but I'm gonna continue, so heres the next part:) thanks for all those who reviewed, you are all the best!**

Seto sank into the nearest chair, his thoughts still reeling. How could she be here? What kind of demented and sick kidnapper was this person that they would somehow replicate his dead mother? But he couldn't let them know how much they were getting to him. He pulled on a blue robe that was laying over the chair next to him and stared intently at the table.

"Are you sure theres nothing Seto?" She asked placing down a plate in front of him, he nodded still trying to avoid looking at her. Even thinking about her had brought him pain for as long as he could remember, and now here she was as though it was nothing at all, what had happened to him last night?

"Morning Seto." A small voice spoke from behind him as it entered the room. The little girl sat down across the table from him. There was something very familiar about her long brown hair and her eyes, deep grey. Thats strange she looks so much like Mokuba, he thought.

"Good morning," he said throat to dry to say much else, and somehow he could tell these people would find it weird if he didn't know what was going on. 'I think you have finally lost it Seto,' he thought letting his eyes linger around the house, but he could feel that it was not his imagination, after all he would never imagine his brother and him to not get along.

" What are you looking at?" The little girl asked, as she rolled up the sleeves of her pink nightgown.

"Just out the window, how are you?" He asked noticing the way that she was looking at him, she wants me to talk to her, he knew that look well from years of living with Mokuba. Her face brightened at the question.

"I'm good, I learned to braid my hair last night." She said with the pride of one that had just told everyone that they won a gold medal. He smiled slightly, she was very cute in a serious sorta way.

"Very good you'll have to show me sometime." He said pushing the eggs around his plate, in the mornings he very rarely had time to eat and normally just had coffee before rushing out the door.

"Bragging again to your older brother Rea? Its not like he fawns on you enough as it is munchkin." His mother said jokingly. Her older brother? That would explain why she looked like his younger brother, and in a place where his mother still lived that would be the most logical reason for a little girl to live in their house. Seto felt something tighten in his chest, the longing for this to be real.

"Are you not going to eat anything?" His mom asked, Seto shook his head.

"No I'm gonna get some coffee."

"Mom said you weren't supposed to drink that anymore cause you never sleep, isn't that right mom?" Asked Rea looking the older woman for approval.

"Yes I would prefer you didn't, but your old enough to make your own decisions." Oh god was she guilt tripping him? No one ever used this tactic on him, or at least not since he was very young.

"Fine whatever." He said looking down at the plate again, which still looked as unappetizing as before.

"Dear lord why is my family all insane, its so early why are you up?" Mokuba demanded as he fell into a chair at the end of the table, as far away from his siblings as was possible. Seto studied the other boy out of the corner of his eye, besides the fact that every article of clothing he wore was black the young teen looked very much the same as the one that he had fallen asleep next to, and there was also the miserable look on his face. Strange that he would be so unhappy here, Seto had never seen Mokuba look so discontented, the boy always seemed to have a cheerful attitude about everything and yet he looked like it was paining him just to be in this room. Seto bit back the urge to comfort the younger boy, as he would have done where they still in Kaiba Manor, but after their brief interaction a little before he could tell that it would make no difference.

"Happy birthday." He said to his younger brother. Mokuba looked up from his plate now, a different expression on his face, one of shook, but he quickly suppressed it and nodded.

"Thanks Seto." He said quietly picking the crust off his toast, he had done this for as long as Seto could remember the younger boy had never grown out of the no crust on bread phase it always made him seem so young when he did it.

"See told you that he would.."

"Not now Rea!" Snapped Mokuba, his eyes returned to the table avoiding everyone else in the room. Their mother walked out of the kitchen and seated herself between her sons, it didn't take much to feel the tension in the room and she could tell what had caused it.

"Do you guys have plans today?" She asked forcing conversation amongst the silence of her three children. Rea looked at her older brother's, both seemed to be avoiding the question why did boys always have to be so stupid! She thought.

"Its your birthday silly aren't you going to do anything?" The little girl asked trying to come to her mother's aid, who laughed slightly at her daughter's attempts to calm her constantly fighting older brothers.

"Yeah I'm going out with my friends, I'll be back later if you guys intend to be home." He said a bitter hint playing on his voice.

"of course we will Mokuba, you know how sorry I was about that, but this year I'll make it up to you, do you forgive me sweetheart?" He didn't meet her eyes, instead focused intently on the tablecloth.

"Yeah mom its fine don't worry, are you all going to be here?" There was a distinct emphasis on all that told Seto right away who he was truly talking about, he knew his younger brother and he knew that meant him.

" I will be here if you want me to be Mokuba." He said simply. The younger boy hide his surprise well, but again Seto could see it, why would he believe that I wouldn't want to be here? He wondered staring into the cup of coffee his mother had handed him. His little brother didn't say anything, he decided instead to continue staring at his plate intently.

"You know I'm not that hungry I think I'll go back to bed." Mokuba moved back his chair quickly avoiding his family's skeptical glances in his direction. As he rounded the corner Seto looked at his mother, thought his brain was still not accepting that this could be happening it was all so real and he knew that playing along was all he could do, though he didn't know why he knew this.

"He wants you to be there." She said simply lifting her own coffee cup up, her eyes kept lingering towards the stairs where her younger son had disappeared.

"I know, I got that much." Seto sucked in a breath, " I feel bad that he is so unhappy, do you want me to talk to him?" She raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Who stole my son and replaced him with you, I would have been trying to make you two have a civil conversation for years, but as your both hot headed teenagers it hasn't really happened as easily as one would imagine..."  
"If by that you mean they just yell and curse a lot like dad used to." A pained look crossed his mother's face.

"They aren't like your father sweetie, but they yell a lot. If you could talk to him later on I would love that Seto, you know how much he loves you, he just doesn't wanna show it cause he's 12 and thats what they do, okay?" She said hurriedly, he nodded but his mind was still playing over Rea's words, what did she mean by yelling and cursing like dad used to? And then it dawned on him that he hadn't seen his father in the house, which wouldn't make sense on a Saturday morning, unless...Unless he didn't live with them. From the way that his mom had reacted thats what it would seem, but how could he be sure?

"Seto could you help Rea get dressed while I clean up breakfast?"

"Sure,come on kiddo." He stood up and held out a hand to the small child. He had forgotten just how little children could be, and she was definitely small for her age. She smiled up at him.

" Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked as they walked up the white carpeted stairs.

"Like how?"

" I don't know, just funny, like you don't you have never seen someone like me." Which I haven't kid, he thought, but instead he gave her a small smile.

"Just noticing how big your getting is all." He said trying to come up with the most logical older sibling response. She opened the door next to the room which he had woken up in that morning, and he followed her into a small pink room. He sank onto the ballet shoes carpet and watched her rummage through a white dresser. Rea turned around placing the articles of clothing in her older brother's hands. Seto looked over the small lavender teeshirt and jeans, he placed them on the ground and helped the tiny girl pull her nightgown over her head. It had been so long since he had done this yet it came naturally as he pulled the shirt over her head carefully.

_Flashback_

Seto pulled on his own shirt quickly before turning to Mokuba who was struggling to get his off. He smiled at the younger boy and knelt beside him.

"Here let me help you." He pulled the shirt up quickly to keep the other boy from struggling to much, Seto placed it down on the ground and stopped. His eyes ran over the dark bruises that were all to obvious against the child's ribs. "Where did you get these?" He ran a finger lightly over them causing his little brother to wince, but still he didn't answer. "Did he do this to you? Why?" Mokuba looked scared and shook his head, not looking at his older brother.

"I'm not supposed to tell you." He whispered. Seto pulled him closer stroking his arm.

"I won't tell you know that, why did he hit you?" He forced his voice to stay calm, there would be plenty of time to yell later for now he had to make sure that his little brother was okay, that their stepfather hadn't done the things he did so often to Seto.

"I asked why I can't get birthday presents, he threw me against the wall and told me that a usless runt like me didn't deserve anything." Seto tightened his hold, sorry for the younger boy and yet so relieved.

"You do, he's wrong and one day I will get you everything you want, but for now we can just get through this together. Come on lets get dressed we don't wanna get in trouble."

_End flashback_

"Seto?" He shook himself quickly refocusing on what was happening in the present. Rea's cloths were now on and she was looking at him expectantly. "Look I braided my hair." He actually smiled this time.

"Very good Rea." He scooped her up in his arms, mind still playing out the many days he had spent in his younger brother's room for this same reason, and the pain that so often went with it. "Lets get downstairs." She wrapped her arms around his neck and lay her head on his shoulder, Seto felt his chest tighten as he hugged her back. Whatever he had done to his little brother in this world he would make it up to him and make things right between them, no matter what it took.

**So theres chapter 2. I am writing this now as I wont have anytime next week and just wanna get this out, so if you actually read my crap thanks and please review to tell me what you think. I'm a tiny bit stuck as to what should happen next, i have a lot of different ideas that could work, but if you have any great ideas or something that you would really like to see tell me**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay so I haven't updated in forever I know, but I am now. Here is chapter 3, theres really only gonna be like four chapters so I promise it will be finished really soon. So if you actually read this at all, thanks and sorry that I'm a loser that has a had serious writers block since I got home from school.**

Seto placed the little girl on the living room floor as he headed towards the kitchen. The table as already clear which lead him to believe that his mother would be cleaning.

"Seto is that you?" She asked as he entered the room.

"Yeah its me whats wrong?" He leaned against the doorway, the older woman turned off the faucet as she turned to her son. Even as his brain was continuing to deny that what was happening could be real, Seto couldn't push the feeling of joy at having her there.

"I was wondering if you could offer to walk Mokuba to practice today, you know be the mature one and try to make peace." He almost laughed wondering when the last time someone had called him immature could have been, he of course was more then willing to walk the younger boy, well anywhere , he never left his side, which no one would have doubted yesterday, but in this world she made it sound like asking him something he was as willing to do as pull his own teeth. Was that the way he was in this place?

"Yeah I can drop him off if you want, what time?" He was met with a raised eyebrow, but she turned quickly back to her dishes which told Seto this was something that would be obvious if he had really grown up in this world.

"Well as Mokuba has been going to soccer every Saturday at noon for about three years now I would think that would be a good time to drop him off, are you sure your alright Seto? I know you don't like me asking to many questions, but really honey your a walking talking day planner ,its not like you to forget." He knew exactly what she was talking about, in his world being in control was something very important to him, so it would go without saying that even if his responsibilities were far less important he would take them seriously.

"Sorry I'm kinda distracted today, nothing to worry about, but I'd be happy to bring him over." The sink turned off and his mother turned back to watch him.

"If you say so sweetheart, Mokuba said you were acting weird this morning to so I was just cheeking." He shifted still leaning against the door frame, was he really feeling uncomfortable? Very few people ever showed concern for his actions, no matter how irrational and insane they may have seemed, he did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to do, but his mother (or whoever this really was as he was still trying to deny that this was really happening) didn't seem like she would let that happen.

"Really mother I'm fine, I'm gonna go get dressed. Rea's in the livingroom." He walked back to the stairs heading up to the room he had woken up in. Mokuba's door was closed, he had gone back to sleep so Seto would have to try talking to him when they were going to practice later. The room was just as boring and void of character as before, how on earth did someone live in this place? He thought searching the room for where he would keep his clothing. He crossed to a small dresser knelling down to look through the drawers. He found neatly folded jeans and teeshirts laying inside much to his displeasure, of course he would be at least more normal then in his world, but why did he have to dress so grossly average? He opted for the only things that were mildly decent which consisted of dark jeans and a black tee shirt. What am I doing here? As much as Seto would never say it out loud the only explanation he could come to was that this had something to do with the wish he'd made right before bed. But even thinking that he felt like Yugi ranting on about talking to the ancient pharaoh in his necklace, yes everyone knew it was true, yet that didn't make him seem any less crazy when he spaced out muttering to an invisible being. Could he really be in different place, one where his parents hadn't died? He sank down to the bed laying back to stare at the blank white ceiling, what in the world am I going to do? He thought feeling for the first time in his life like he truly had no clue what to do.

"Seto phone!" His mother's voice called from downstairs, phone? He pushed off the bed and quickly made his way back to the kitchen. She slid a hand through her now lose curls pushing the cordless phone across the counter top. He gave the white object a strange look. "What don't talk to your best friend now?" Yeah my best friend, no hes upstairs refusing to talk to me, but he picked and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" Please tell me your name! He thought desperately.

" Hey Set, its Yugi." Oh dear god above I would have been happier if I could pretend I didn't know! Yugi is my friend? But then again of course he would be after he loved everyone.

"Oh hi Yugi." Kill me now someone, he thought faking as best he could delight at hearing the multicolored hair midget's voice.

"Don't sound so shocked, didn't Naomi tell you who was on the phone?" He laughed.

"Um, yeah its just...never mind, so whats up?" Whats up? Oh hell if I don't get out of here soon I'll end up like every other smucky teenager in th world.

"Are we still going to attempt to buy your brother a birthday present today?" He asked in his chipper voice. Why not just let him help? Just cause he makes me wanna stab my eyes out...

"Yeah of course, I have to walk him to practice at noon wanna meet me at the soccer field?" Seto leaned against the doorway to let his mother out of the room.

"See you then, bye Seto."

"Yeah bye Yugi." I can't believe I just agreed to spend the afternoon with the Yugi gang! Maybe with ear plugs their speeches would be bearable.

"So you have plans today?" Mother called from the living room where he figured she must be playing with Rea. Seto came into the room slipping into a chair across from her and the little girl.

"Yes, but I will be home in time for dinner."

For the first time in his life Seto found himself bored out of his mind. If he had been at home, well his home, he would already be at work piled high with millions of things to finish, but not here. No the only thing that seemed to be of entertainment in their house hold was the television set, where he and Rea had been laying for almost five hours. Could this be what most people do on the weekends? Some days Mokuba would watch TV in his office, but otherwise neither really cared all that much for it and now Seto remembered why. How much Sesame Street could one little girl watch?

"Are you ready to leave Seto?" He looked away from the horrible little creatures on screen to see his little brother leaning against the wide doorway in a blue and white soccer uniform, his long black hair was pulled back in a lose ponytail obviously to keep it away from his face.

"As long as you are Mokuba." He said patting the little girls head as he stood up.

"Mom we're leaving, Rea's in the living room!" Mokuba yelled generally into the house as they walked out to the bright outside light. Immediately the younger boy took the lead walking quickly ahead of his brother, of course he's probably hoping no one remembers were related, and as soon as the thought crossed his mind he realized that his little brother had never been ashamed that they were siblings. Even when the whole world thought Seto had lost his mind Mokuba stood by his side, defending him no matter what. Just another perk to this place I guess, he thought making sure to keep a little away as well so not to start another fight. When I made that wish I never thought about all this, knowing that this is my life could I really want back the life I lead before? Even with all the terrible things that we went through? He mulled over this in his mind watching Mokuba's back the whole time.

**Okay so not a lot happened in this chapter I think, but I needed to post something so that I don't let all my stories die completely. The next chapter will probably be more eventful and I'm gonna try and get it out in less then four months this time, again sorry I'm a complete loser at updating.**


	4. Chapter 4

**So I don't own anything, obviously...**

**To start with, wow its been forever since I last updated, if you read it before sorry! I really have been busy with real life, I'll explain in my authors not at the end!**

It didn't take long before they reached the park. Mokuba lead the way to a large field looking back at his older brother for a moment.

"I'm gonna go okay?" He said fiddling with a piece of his hair, god we can't talk to each other at all can we?

"Alright I'll see you later today, have fun." Cause you think I wanna make your life miserable so you don't really believe anything I say anyway.

"Okay, later." And he was off. Seto sank down against a tree watching the younger boy disappear into a crowd of other kids in uniforms. At least he looks happy with them, in this world he is a normal happy kid who resents his siblings, so why couldn't Seto let him be that? He already knew the answer before having to think, he wanted what they had, maybe neither of them was ever really happy but they had each other and in their world that was all that mattered.

"Hey Seto are you okay?" He didn't even have to look up to know perfectly well who was talking to him after years of being tortured by the other boy and his happy go lucky friends it was all to clear to him.

"Yeah I'm fine Yugi." He said unconvincingly as he stood up still leaning against the tree.

"Fighting with your brother again?" He looked out to soccer field where Mokuba was giving one of his team mates a high five.

"Not really, were just not talking to each other. Hes a fan of his birthday I guess."

"Well I wouldn't blame him really after what happened to you guys last year on his birthday." Gardener was talking now. Yippy I can't wait for the joy that spending the day with these idiots will hold, he though as he looked back surprised to find that there was only three people waiting for him, Yugi, Gardener and Bakura. Where were the other happy freaks then? Seto tried to rack his brain for a time he had seen Yugi free of his three person entourage. Then there was another question, what had happened last year? He remember a slight mention of it at breakfast but no one went any farther into it.

"Are you ready to go? And what are we getting for him?" Bakura asked as they all began to walk towards the path that ran through the middle of the park.

"I have no ideas, your guess is good as mine." Seto said bitting back a mean comment that he was about to shot at the paler boy. Yugi smiled back at him.

"Of course we're gonna help you out Seto, we've been friends since like second grade." He said. Really? He looked over the three other teenagers he was walking with, friends? I've had friends since I was little? He knew that he'd never even thought about why people cared about something like that, but in a world where he had nothing else he could almost, real emphasis on almost, understand why other people did.

"I know." He lied looking down at his feet while he walked something he was not very used to doing, but it was better then trying to keep up a conversation with these people much as they seemed to care for him. "Where are we going?"

"The mall, we figured there were enough stores there that we're bounded to find something that he would like, are you sure your alright Seto?" Yugi asked. Yeah I love finding that my worst enemy is suddenly my best friend, and my brother has decided I'm dirt.

"Yes just thinking about something, don't worry about it okay?"

"Of course, you would obviously tell me if it mattered that much." The smaller boy said with a smile turning back to the other two members of their small group. Looks like I've found something bearable about this world they are definitely less annoying then they were before, he thought as they entered the sliding doors of the Domino City Mall.

"Pick a number between one and six." Gardener said to Bakura.

"Four, what is the point of this."

"We're going to start looking on the left side of the second floor, since we have no idea what we want to get him I figured a random start would at least get us moving rather then wasting time standing here in the entranceway." She explained simply beginning to walk into the crowd. He had to hand it to her the girl knew how to command a group of men, he thought as the three of them moved quickly in order to keep up with her.

The small group walked in silence past the rows of stores, looking in every once a while to see if it seemed like the kind of place that the younger boy would shop. Seto was at a serious lose, he had trouble knowing what to get the Mokuba in his world on his birthday and they spent every waking moment together, it would be near impossible to buy a kid he had known a sum total of six hours anything! Yugi seemed to know what he was looking for, so just this once Seto was willing to let the smaller boy be in charge not that he wasn't all the time anyway.

It was at this moment that he realized something was different about the other boy, where was that Egyptian puzzle he always wore? It was so a part of the Yugi he knew that it seemed almost like the kid was missing a limb, could he not have it in this world? Wouldn't that mean that he wasn't the king of games here? Maybe thats why we all spend our time together here, he had come to notice that he was obviously not as famous as in his own world, and it seemed Yugi wasn't either. So this is what it feels like to be your everyday, normal outcasts, he thought miserably.

"Lets go in here." Yugi said pointing to a bookstore not far from where they were walking. "I remember talking to him about a book series last time I was at your house, maybe you could get him the last few books."

"Thats a good idea, lead the way." Seto said motioning for Yugi to walk at the front of the group, the smaller boy smiled at him and walked through the archway into the store. God I really am becoming pathetic being here!

"This is it I believe, just let me..." Yugi trailed off looking past his three friends.

"What is it Yugi?" Gardener asked.

"Oh great, of course they would be here." Muttered Bakura. Seto raised an eyebrow about to question, but instead he followed their gazes to a group not far from them. Oh now thats interesting, he thought, it seems their not so lovey dovey here are they? Wheeler and Taylor were leaning dramatically against a bookshelf, Devlin twirled a strand of hair through his fingers eyes wandering over a pack of older girls and that irritating Valentine woman was reapplying lipstick in a compact.

"What the hell does it matter if those idiots are here?" Seto asked not seeing why the other three were so distressed, what harm could they really be?

"Those idiots happen to torture us everyday at school, unless you've forgotten all of a sudden." Bakura said sliding down to the floor obviously hoping that the other group didn't notice him. Useless losers like Wheeler and Taylor picked on him in this world!? There were things Seto could handle, being best friends with Yugi Moto was one thing, but this was crossing the line! No way was he going to let them walk all over him no matter how much of a freak he was here.

"Well if its a fight they want, then thats what I'll give them." He said simply moving from behind the bookshelf to walk towards the others.

"What are you doing!?" Hissed Yugi getting up from his spot on the floor to chase after him.

"I'm going to show those loser that they should chose who they pick on more wisely." He said stopping in front of the group of teenagers. Valentine was the first to notice them.

"Oh and it was such a good day, must the nerd squad be everywhere in this city." Seto was sickeningly reminded of himself by that statement, God do I really sound that stupid when I talk!?

"Can we help you losers with something?" Wheeler said with a smug grin on his face.

"As a matter of fact you can help me, but your gonna have to step a closer." The blond raised an eyebrow throwing a smirk to his friends and stepped towards Seto and Yugi. It was obvious by how hard he fell that he was not expecting the brunette to punch him square in the face. Joey flew back slamming into both Duke and a bookshelf.

"What the..!!" He snarled pushing himself back up with little regards for the black haired boy on the floor. "I suppose your think your real smart freak boy!"

"Actually I know I am, which is more then you can say, you Neanderthal!" Wheeler made a disgusted face.

"What did you call me?" He spat raising a fist. "Oh never mind, your dead!" The blond slammed his fist at the taller boy, though not fast enough as Seto moved out of the way Joey ran straight into yet another metal shelf. The blond rounded again, this time hitting Seto directly in the chin. Yugi jumped in between them.

"Stop it now! We're gonna get kicked out of the store!" He yelled placing a hand on Seto's chest to keep him from lunging at the other boy. None of Joey's friends seemed to care all that much about what he was doing, Taylor was on the floor with Devlin and Valentine was back to checking herself out in the mirror. To say the very least Wheeler had better taste in friends in his world, at least Tea and Yugi, no matter how annoying they were, cared a little.

"This isn't over Wheeler, if you don't leave us alone at school I swear I won't stop next time, and you know as well as I do that I would win." He sneered letting Yugi pull him back to the other two.

"Holy crap I still can't believe you did that!!" Bakura said as they left the store, with the books Yugi had suggested in hand.

"I know, what made you decide to do that all of a sudden Set?" Tea asked twirling a piece of her auburn hair nervously.

"He deserved it, Wheeler needs to know whose in charge since it definitely isn't him and those weirdos." He hissed knowing that these kids were not used to him ranting on about other people as he would have at home.

"Well next time lets do that in a place we can't get kicked out of, shall we?" Yugi said running a little to keep up with the three taller kids. "Though it was impressive I never knew you were any good at fighting."

"That was nothing I promise." He said slipping the bag over his wrist as they walked out of the mall. "I think we should head back to the park, I'm pretty sure Mokuba's done by now." They nodded in agreement and began to walk.

"Oh god what happened to you Seto!?" Mokuba asked stopping short in front of them as he surveyed his older brother's cheek.

"He decided to beat the crap out of Joey Wheeler at the mall." Bakura said laughing at the expression of pure shock that covered the younger boy's features. He looked at his brother again.

"Hm, he didn't hurt you to bad this time." Ugh this time, Seto thought realizing that meant there had been another time when he had obviously lost to the third rate freak.

"No I think I did worst." He promised. "Are you ready to go?" Mokuba nodded tightening his ponytail and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Bye guys!" He yelled back at the field, the other kids shouted good byes as they headed down the path.

"We'll see you two later, we said we'd help my grandfather out after we went out." Yugi explained to them. Seto waved slightly not really looking back as they continued down the path in silence. They remained this way until the park was completely out of view then the younger boy spoke.

"Sorry about this morning." He said looking down at his shoes which he was grinding into the ground.

"What are you sorry about?"

"You remembered that it was my birthday, and you were even nice about it. I'm sorry for being an asshole it was uncalled for, I mean its not your fault what happened last year." Mokuba muttered still looking at his feet.

"Its alright, I don't mind you being mad at me even if its a stupid reason." He said.

"I'm not really mad at you Seto, I'm mad at dad..." He said sucking in his lip. How appropriate really, its seems no matter where we are its fathers that are the root of all our problems.

"I know." He lied. "At least this year is better then last right?" The younger boy nodded his dark head.

"I don't think it could be worst, dad can't leave us every year now could he?" Seto nearly stopped, but fought to keep his shock from being apparent on his face. Their dad had left the family on Mokuba's birthday last year!? "Its not like you guys could have known he would do that, so don't feel bad about having to be out of town, at least your all here this year, and it even seems like you bought me something." He said with a half smile.

"Yeah I did." Seto said shifting the bag to his other wrist. He had been out of town for some reason, and their father left? No wonder the kid was so reluctant to enjoy his birthday, but at least it wasn't life in the Kaiba household. At least here no one would really hurt him.

"Hey Seto."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." He wasn't totally sure what he did, but he smiled anyway.

"Anytime little brother."

**Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, its longer then the others so I am hoping that somewhat makes up for my total lack of updates for a year! The last year has been really crazy which is why I haven't had as much time to think about my writing. I got married and am now the Stepmother of three little boys, a pretty full time job! Besides which I'm also still in school. I'm gonna try and update, as I don't think this story will be to much longer and I would love to wrap things up. Thanks for understanding and I would love to hear what you thought!**

**Arra**


	5. Chapter 5

**So this story was boardering on dead, as with a lot of my stuff but I found some newly aquired drive to write and interest in my own fanfiction (also having a little time has helped). So heres the most recent chapter, its not much but its getting me back to writing on it.**

"Hey mom we're home!" Mokuba yelled dropping his bag onto the living room floor as he pushed the front door closed behind them.

"Welcome back, how was practice?" She called from somewhere in the house, apparently in a room next to the stairs. He looked back trying to find where it was that she was working.

"Oh it was great!" He said animatedly leaning against the wall to talk to her as he seemed to have decided that he wasn't gonna bother figuring out where she was. "We split into teams and mine totally kicked the other sides butt, its fantastic mom you should have seen it I made like three goals in a row and..." Seto smiled inwardly, it was nice to hear the enthusiastic way his little brother normally spoke coming through, even if he never understood the appeal of sports at least it seemed to make Mokuba happy. Which lead him to wonder if the younger boy had ever been drawn to soccer in his world? Of course he would never have said anything since he knew what his older brother thought on the game were...But hearing the younger boy talk he wondered if maybe he should let him know that it would be okay to want to play some sort of team sport.

"That sounds great honey." He heard his mother answer, and though Mokuba seemed oblivious to it Seto could hear sadness in her voice.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me."

"Cheek on your sister for me, shes in her room."

"Will do mom." The younger boy started up the stairs and Seto moved past them.

"Hey mom where are you?" He could hear the sound of sucking in breath.

"I'm just in the office cleaning up, you don't have too..." He pushed the door opened looking into the room, which was darkened with all the lights off and the curtains pulled closed. His mother was on the floor the cordless phone at her feet staring at the door where he had just entered.

"Mom are you..."

"I'm fine." She said bitting down on her lip to suppress another sob. "Your fucking father had the nerve to call today." He sank to the floor next to her reaching out to lightly touch her arm.

"I'm sorry, he doesn't have a right, not after what he did."

"I know I should let him talk to Mokuba, I mean they might still care about him cause they don't know how much of a pigheaded freak he was." She said with obvious venom in her voice. "I'm...I shouldn't talk about him like that around you, its your father after all..."

"Mom I know what he did, its not a big deal." It wasn't completely true, he only really knew very little of what their father had done to this family, but it helped her to talk freely and she wouldn't do that if he seemed like he didn't remember what had happened, as she seemed unsurprised by his answer he must have known.

"I know baby, but still its bad form, and I can't talk like that around Rea or Mokuba. At the same time its not like hes made much of an effort to talk you guys since he left with that woman. Don't tell your siblings that they don't know, you know that right..." Oh great dad was real class A sleezball it seemed, not only did he walk out on one of his child's birthday leaving him alone, he left their mother for another woman.

"You know the feeling I get from the others is that they don't have interest in him anymore, so don't feel bad for not letting him talk to Mokuba. If he'd cared enough he wouldn't have done that to him in the first place." She looked over at him with a smile reaching up to brush his hair from his face lightly.

"What would I do without you my darling?" She whispered leaning forward so their foreheads touched, and in that second all his years worth of loss caught up with him. It had been so long since he'd felt what a parent's love could feel like and as she slide her hands around him all the years of pain surfaced in tears he hadn't even known he held in. He felt her start, trying to push him back to look at his face, her hands on either check. "Whats wrong? What happened are you okay, is it something I said?" She asked pressing her lips to his forehead as she whipped away the tears tracking down his face.

"Its nothing mom." He tried to say only to chock on his words. "I can't really explain, I don't...I don't think I know." Thats honest, he thought.

"Okay, I know you don't like to admit that your sad, it helps to let it out sometimes you just always have to remember that my love." She said softly bring her son's head to her shoulder and resting her check in his hair. "Let out whatever you need mommy's here." And that was what hurt, the fact that this wasn't real and never could be no matter how real it felt she wouldn't always be there. But yet that wasn't the part that hurt the most, it was the fact that even though he would be losing her again he still longed to be home, even though he would still miss her desperately everyday. He knew that the way he felt real comfort wasn't in someones arms being told it would be okay, no he hadn't ever known that in his life so it seemed so meaningless. Comfort was feeling his little brother's fingers entwined in his while they entered some party neither wanted to attend, or knowing that the younger boy was asleep on the couch while he worked late into the night. It wasn't the traditional way to show that they cared, but it was how they always had and at that moment he realized he missed those simple gestures more than anything else from his world.

"Thanks mom, you have no idea how much that helped." He said still leaning back on the wall next to her. She smiled and this time it reached her eyes.

"Well it helped me too, sometimes I let stuff get to me and than I spend five minutes with one of you and it doesn't matter anymore." He understood completely what she meant by that.

"I'm glad to have been able to help." She squeezed his shoulder lightly.

"We better get back out their before your lovely siblings realize I've been in here for a while and start looking for me. Your really feeling better honey?" He nodded following her lead out of the room. "You still gonna talk to your brother?"

"Yeah I was going up there after I was done talking to you, if he'll talk to me at the moment. Though I think we might be doing alright now." As they entered the better lite living room her eyes scanned his face.

"Did you get in a fight somewhere!?" She asked turning his face so that she could observe the bruise that was forming there.

"At the mall, but its not a big deal." She looked about ready to argue but he cut in. "Its was these guys from school, their bullies and I was just defending myself." Gah how terribly pathetic that sounds, like it was really defense against that loser, but she had no need to know his real opinion.

"Geez really? Well I'm glad you came out of the whole thing in one piece. Was that what all this was about?" He inwardly laughed, god I must be more of a child than I thought in this world if she honestly believes that I would have a melt down after some run in with high school bullies, he thought miserably smiling at her and shaking his head.

"No I think was a culmination of a lot of others things all at once." He said truthfully.

"If you say so. I'll be in the kitchen getting things cleaned up for dinner, come in if need me and let your siblings know where I am so they can pester me if need be, sound good?" He nodded watching her disappear into the other room. Yep sounds great, he thought. Now to an even more fun task, attempting to talk to his little brother, or more correctly attempting to make things right between the two of them the way they were supposed to be.

**So lemme know what you think, this should be one of the last chapters, maybe one or two more after this tops. Thanks for reading, and for your interest cause this story has been off the face of a planet for so long! Thanks again ~Arra**


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